Tennessee Man Suffers From Rare 'Demon Face Syndrome', Sees Monsters Everywhere

Beauty is something that is perceived differently by different people. The famous saying also underlines ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’. It indicates that if someone likes something, then there is nothing more beautiful than that to one’s eyes. Contrary to this, there is a person whose eyes do not find anything beautiful.

A 59-year-old man from Tennessee, US, Victor Sharrah, has a strange disease. As per the New York Post report, Victor’s rare disease makes him see monsters everywhere. This ultra-rare condition is called demon face syndrome and causes everyone to look like they have a satanic smile on their face. This condition has also been established by a recently published study in The Lancet.

According to an NBC News report, Victor always had a sharp eyesight. However, in November 2020, a life-altering day changed everything for him when he woke up and started to see people’s faces as demons. Victor describes that people’s ears, noses and mouths seem to him like they are stretched back and have deep grooves in their foreheads, cheeks and chins.

While talking to NBC News, Victor mentioned, “My first thought was I woke up in a demon world.” He added, “You can’t imagine how scary it was.”

However, the sufferer has also mentioned that he does not see these creepy faces while viewing facial representations on screens or paper. On getting to know about the problems, one of Victor’s acquaintances suggested that he might be suffering from prosopometamorphopsia or PMO.

What is PMO?

PMO is considered one of the rare neurological disorders of perception that appear distorted. It can be in shape, size, texture or colour.

However, on getting checked over the same symptoms, the researcher at Dartmouth College created a digital representation of Victor’s condition. The resulting image was then published in The Lancet.

As per the study, PMO symptoms are usually solved after a few days or weeks. However, in some cases, it lasts for years as well. As of now, fewer than 100 cases have been published so far. Some patients were diagnosed with the disease after head trauma, stroke, epilepsy, or migraines. However, in Victor’s case, the reason has not been confirmed by the experts yet.